Latin American airports expect 809 million passengers in 2026
By Alexander SchekGo-to-market and sales leadership in Latin America
1 min readACI-LAC expects about 809 million passengers at Latin American and Caribbean airports in 2026, and estimates they will need to invest around $178 billion over the next 30 years. Split evenly, that is about $5.9 billion a year; the $8.7 billion a year also quoted is a different figure.
Latin American and Caribbean airports expect about 809 million passengers in 2026 and close to 1.5 billion by 2045. Rafael Echevarne, director general of ACI-LAC, gave those figures on September 28 at WAGA 2026 in Lima, as reported by Pablo Chávez Meza for A21.
Echevarne said the region's airports will need to invest around $178 billion over the next 30 years, going from $3.4 billion a year to $8.7 billion.
Divided evenly, $178 billion over 30 years is about $5.9 billion a year. The $8.7 billion is a different figure, and the report does not say in which year spending would need to reach it.
He also said 133 airports in the region still have less passenger traffic than before the pandemic, and that the region has lost close to 20% of its connections between city pairs.
Airport investment per year
Sources: Infobae, Latin American airports face an investment gap, September 29, 2026; MercoPress, Latin American airports will need $178 billion, September 29, 2026
Publication: Originally published on my professional LinkedIn on October 1, 2026.